Gov. Peter Shumlin is proposing a slight rise in spending for the coming year, in an address to a joint session of the Legislature in Montpelier.

The administration's $5.1B budget proposal relies on continuing economic growth, and with it, roughly $70M in additional state revenues flowing from the recovery.

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"Today I present a budget that makes the necessary choices to match our spending with Vermonters' ability to pay," the governor said.

Shumlin said the plan is balanced, makes targeted investments in higher education, and features no "broad-based" tax increase.

Officials note some fees paid by Vermonters would rise in the coming year, including charges collected by the Agency of Natural Resources and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The state's $1.3B General Fund budget rises 5.3 percent over the current year. The complex document includes dozens of changes to FY-2012 spending, including an infusion of federal dollars to "finish the job" of recovering from Tropical Storm Irene which battered Vermont Aug. 28.

At the same time, economic 'stimulus' monies from Washington are drying up.

At a briefing, Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding said the objective in constructing the budget was to resist new programs, but protect those already in place. A proposed expansion of services to help children with autism was postponed, saving $10M, he said, while ongoing expenses to rebuild from Irene are fully funded.

Shumlin also proposes a "down payment" of $3M to bolster the state's "rainy day" fund. The budget reserve would rise from 5 up to 5.25 percent under the plan.

The administration also suggests a major consolidation of state workers now scattered in offices in different communities into new office space to boost efficiency -- including relocating 170 employees at the Department of Education to a new complex proposed for downtown Barre.

The Agency of Human Services could move its employees -- about 1,000 in all -- back to the flood-damaged state office complex in Waterbury -- though Spaulding emphasized no final decision would be made until the release of an architectural study due March 2 on the costs involved in rehabilitating the complex and "making it flood-resistant."

Some capital projects would be delayed to save $18M the administration expects will be needed to complete the work in Waterbury and other agency relocations, and to replace the shuttered state mental hospital.

Other spending proposals include a 35 percent rise in road repaving at the Agency of Transportation, and more generous state assistance to towns struggling to afford the local share of federal disaster reconstruction grants.

The administration said UVM and the Vermont State Colleges would see 'level-funding' of their annual state appropriation, but would split an $8M "innovation" initiative.

The Shumlin proposal funds pay raises for state employees, the Vt. State Police, and teacher pension obligations, and, he told lawmakers, preserves essential spending to help "Vermont's most vulnerable - seniors, Vermonters with disabilities, our children, and those who live in poverty."

The Legislature is now working on mid-year budget adjustments, and will spend the rest of the winter reviewing the budget plan for FY-2013.